Labor advocacy and employee feedback have shaped the benefits and standards prevalent in today’s workforce.
Decades worth of employee advocacy has been pivotal in molding benefits and people-first workplaces where what once was yearned for — workplace safety, fair hours, employer-backed healthcare and just compensation — is now the bare minimum.
Thanks to these concerted, hard-fought efforts, discussions about benefits have evolved beyond matters of respect, decency and inclusion to a more holistic well-being that asks companies to meet professionals’ shifting, diverse and personal needs.
Offerings like mental health support, flexible schedules, pet insurance and complimentary meals are increasingly commonplace, despite being rarities in benefits packages even a decade ago.
In today’s workplaces, many employers recognize the value of their employees’ voices. They understand that fostering a culture of open communication leads to innovation and growth — and that feedback enhances company support, engagement and the broader employee experience.
At Anduril and Identity Digital, benefits are fine-tuned by open dialogues and a commitment to understanding and addressing employee needs.
Anduril is a defense technology company that leverages AI, autonomy and sensor fusion to solve national security challenges.
How do you ensure that you evolve your perks and benefits package to meet what employees need now?
We evaluate our benefits regularly through engagement and utilization reports, employee satisfaction surveys and general employee feedback. We listen to the needs and requests of our employees. We also look at our claims data to see what’s driving our employees to seek care.
We evaluate our benefits regularly through engagement and utilization reports, surveys and employee feedback. We listen to the needs and requests of our employees.”
For example, high claims with mental health providers or behavior health Rx indicate a need for more mental health benefits.
What benefits have you pulled back on over the last year or so? What have you doubled up on?
Recently, we have doubled up on expanding our vendor partners to provide quality care that’s easy to access and free to our employees. This includes primary care, telemedicine, mental health support, digital MSK therapy and 24/7 family building and parenting support.
What role does employee feedback play when you’re putting together a relevant perks and benefits package that meets employees’ needs?
Employee feedback plays an essential role in our benefits strategy because it directly tells us what’s working and what’s not working, as well as what the needs are of our people. It allows us to create a benefits package that will increase employee satisfaction, retention and engagement. We invest a lot in our benefits and want to ensure its effectiveness.
Identity Digital aims to inspire businesses and people to develop and own their digital identities via impactful domain names.
How do you ensure that you evolve your perks and benefits package to meet what employees need now?
The utmost priority lies in actively listening to our team members and candidates. We aim to identify our strengths and areas where improvement is needed.
We also look through a few different lenses, DEI, what aligns with our values and how we are benchmarked against other companies. While our approach is to clearly understand all our global benefits and how they compare to each other, we customize to where they are so that differences make sense for our team members.
Overall, employee feedback is invaluable for creating a perks and benefits package that resonates with employees, addresses their needs and contributes to a positive and supportive work environment.
Feedback is invaluable for creating a benefits package that resonates with employees.”
What benefits have you pulled back on over the last year or so? What have you doubled up on?
Currently, we’re not considering any cutbacks to our benefit offerings. On the contrary, we hope to make additional investments in 2024 across various areas. We are in the planning stage and will have more information later in the year.
Additionally, we’re strongly focusing on improving our communication and education efforts around our health and well-being benefits. It’s all part of our commitment to providing our team members with the best possible support and resources.
What role does employee feedback play when you’re putting together a relevant perks and benefits package that meets employees’ needs?
Team member feedback is invaluable to us. We want our benefits packages to resonate with them and address their needs. Once we can identify any gaps for improvement, we can put a plan in place.
